


Worlds Collide

by lauralrgraphics



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV), Supernatural
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi, Original Character(s), crossdressing!Merlin, mention of Anne Rice universe things, mention of charlie bradbury - Freeform, mention of graham from once upon a time, mention of human!cas, original interpretation of a modern day Merlin, punk!Merin, suspend your disbelief, trans!Merlin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-30
Updated: 2015-08-30
Packaged: 2018-04-18 04:56:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4692881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lauralrgraphics/pseuds/lauralrgraphics
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I don’t know about this Sam.”</p><p>Dean kicks at the loose stones in the road. He looks past the Impala to a long winding empty road.</p><p>“These are the exact coordinates in the file” Sam says with certainty.</p><p>Apparently, the Men of Letters had a few annotations in their file on Oz. Specifically, the Wicked Witch. They even named her. Zelena. In addition, the bunker held additional files titled “The Mills Witches”, right before the file on “The Mayfair Witches”, that held valuable information about a family line of powerful sorceresses. But really, it was more of a warning.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Worlds Collide

**Author's Note:**

> I really just wanted to write Castiel and David Nolan working in the animal rescue shelter, but then I had to think about how Cas got there and 10k+ words later I came up with this. Sorry, no smut. Enjoy!

“I don’t know about this Sam.”

Dean kicks at the loose stones in the road. He looks past the Impala to a long winding empty road.

“These are the exact coordinates in the file” Sam says with certainty.

Apparently, the Men of Letters had a few annotations in their file on Oz. Specifically, the Wicked Witch. They even named her. Zelena. In addition, the bunker held additional files titled “The Mills Witches”, right before the file on “The Mayfair Witches”, that held valuable information about a family line of powerful sorceresses. But really, it was more of a warning.

“Cas, are you like… feeling anything here?” Dean sweeps his hands up, motioning to all the nothing he’s looking at.  
“There’s definitely magic here” said the angel, with a stern serious line at his brow.  
“Come on, what’s the worst that could happen?” Huffs Sam.  
“I could crumple my front end that’s what” Dean rolls his eyes at his floppy haired brother and folds his arms.

Castiel steps forward with no concern at all. He seems to vanish, but his voice carries.

“There’s a sign here”  
“Cas! Where are you? What do you see?” Sam is frantically waving his hands, while Dean scrambles to the car, retrieving the EMF reader. Turning knobs on the makeshift monitor, his fingers slip in his haste.

“A sign. Over here.”

Castiel doesn’t realize he is out of view from the brothers, he can still see them. It doesn’t occur to him that they can’t see him anymore.

“Yeah it’s dead. There’s no EMF.”  
“CAAAS!” Sam yells out as his hands are cupped around his mouth. He looks to his brother.  
“You know we came here to hunt witches, not ghost right?”  
“I know, I just thought there would be some kind of energy reading bouncing off this thing.”

The angel looks back at them, completely baffled.

“I’m right here” he states.

Sam looks into the space where Cas just disappeared into, “I’m going in.”  
“Sam, wait!”

And he’s gone. Dean is standing there next to the Impala with his mouth gaping open and his eyes wide. 

“Dean, seriously, just get in the car and roll through slow okay?”  
It’s Sam’s voice, talking to him from thin air.

“Shit.”

…

The three of them drive on past the sign. “Welcome to Storybrooke”. Dean has a good chuckle at that. It sounds perfect. Like ‘Stepford Wife’ perfect. Cas doesn’t get that reference. Sam flips through the pages of the file he brought from the bunker. 

“I think this is definitely it.” Sam states as they come across the town’s Main Street. A clock tower looms over the street, casting a shadow over the Impala. The street is completely deserted. Shop fronts have their ‘closed’ signs turned to their doors. Not a light or an employee in any store windows.

“Hmm, you think it’s abandoned?”  
“Nope, look.”

Dean motions to a small white fence with an opening to a patio where there are tables set up and a small sign, ‘Granny’s’. The doorway is crowded, and there is shouting and hands in the air and the sound of ceramic things breaking.

“Lunch rush I guess?” Sam asks no one in particular.  
“More like an angry mob looks like.” Dean states with a small sigh at the end.

Castiel just squints from the back seat as if he’s painfully nearsighted.  
“Wait.” Says the angel, it’s more like a command.

He vanishes, and then the brothers see a wisp of tragic bed head in the crowd. Dean catches a glimpse of a figure in the corner of his eye.

“Check out the blond.” He nudges Sam.

Sheriff Emma Swan runs along Main Street at a quick pace. A chainsaw in one hand and a large branch bearing the budding beginnings of red apples in the other. She’s headed for the diner, and the crowd parts for her.

“They’re casting a spell”  
Castiel is suddenly returned to the vehicle. His deadpan statement seems to startle Dean.  
“What kind of spell?” Sam wonders.  
Cas continues to recount what he’s seen inside the diner. “Apparently there is a witch who cast a spell on the townspeople, another witch is gathering ingredients for a counter spell.”  
“She’s a witch? She’s got a sheriff’s star pinned to her jacket.”  
“No Dean, another witch. Inside. I understand she’s the mayor of this town.”  
“Okay… so, what now?”  
“Do we wait and watch or do we go in there?” Sam asks Dean.  
“I don’t think we should interfere.” Cas states.  
“When do we ever not interfere?” Dean says, his shoulders scrunch as he speaks.  
“You make a good point, but I really think we should stand aside. This is a powerful coven.”  
“Sam is right, there is strong magic here. Both light and dark.” Cas informs the brothers.

A bright light emanates from the doors and windows of the humble eatery. A flash like lightning projects from the center of the structure. Then, as quickly as it began, it’s ended. People pile out of Granny’s as if nothing happened. Some are smiling, others are bumping shoulders and talking.

Dean lets a sharp breath of air whistle through his front teeth. “Well, that was a weird town meeting.”  
“Or a normal one.” Cas offers.  
“Business as usual around these parts?” Sam asks.  
“Looks like. Hey guys---”  
Sam and Cas look to Dean, “You think they’re still open? Check out the chalkboard out front”  
The hunter is referring to the menu posted, advertising the special of the day “with a slice of apple pie” in bold handwriting underneath.

 

…

 

“I think you really did it this time Swan.”  
Regina looks at the branch from her beloved apple tree with her eyebrows drawn, her elevens showing.  
“Yeah I think it’s pretty much firewood now.” Emma says, not looking at madam mayor but focused at the task at hand.  
Regina lets a forceful breath escape her nostrils.  
“These are crumby apples to bake with anyway.” Emma says in one quick breath, like she knows what’s coming.

She’s mad. Before she was just miffed that the spell called for a piece of her most loved apple tree, one of few things that were a point of permanence from the Enchanted Forest. What she didn’t realize was that Emma would carve out another large branch. It even had the tender buds of fruit on the finger like tendrils at the edges of the limb. Regina is about to open her mouth, her small scar above her lip crinkled around the tirade she’s prepared when suddenly a small voice interjects.  
“Yeah mom, they’re always mushy.”

Henry pushed his way through the crowd. Of course he couldn’t stay away.  
Emma crouches down to the boy’s level “Listen, you shouldn’t be here kid”  
Regina shrugs her right shoulder and looks to the ceiling, “It pains me to admit it, but Emma is right. Henry, you can’t be here.”

“Well, what are you gonna do about it? We need everyone for this spell, and I can help!”

Emma and Regina exchange defeated looks.

“Just be ready, that goes for everyone!” Emma instructs, turning her focus on the crowd.

Zelena had come months ago, her plan vague. But all her planning had come to a point, this was her goal all along. To change history, Regina’s history. It would be disasterous. Altering Regina’s personal history, even going as far as eliminating her existence from reality, would change the course of events that lead to Emma’s birth. 

This is not the last time Zelena will try to change the past.

…

 

Team Free Will casually walks into the diner, taking a booth in the far corner. A thin red head wearing the bare minimum of clothing to cover up socially unacceptable areas she’d rather expose waits on them. 

Dean flirts as per the usual, and gets the special. Sam studies the menu front to back, Red has to come back for his order. 

Cas says, “I’ll have what he’s having” nodding to Dean. As Red walks away, Dean looks to Cas. “You don’t need eat anymore since you got your grace back, why’d you order?”

“Molecules.” Sam says, a blanket statement, as he continues to stare at the menu.  
Castiel looks down at the table, the little boomerang pattern giving him something to focus on as a small smile grows on his face.

“I think I missed something” Dean thinks out loud.

…

“Granny’s” is connected to a small building that lets rooms out. More surprising, “Granny’s” actually has a Granny. She’s a tough cookie if Dean’s ever seen one. She’s gruff, but accomodating. She even offers Sam and Dean the Honeymoon Suite before they introduce themselves as brothers. 

She looks to the crumpled trenchcoat clad angel and thinks aloud, “Oh, well that makes sense. Who brings their tax accountant along on their honeymoon, right?”  
“Maybe the Koch Brothers,” Dean says.  
Granny chuckles, “If they weren’t brothers I guess.” She hands them keys to two rooms.

Granny watches as they walk away from the desk, wisps of white hair escaping her top knot loosened after a days work in the kitchen. Her small glasses perch on the very tip of her nose, she listens for the doors to the rooms to close. 

It’s only then that she shoots off a quick text to David, the local animal shelter rescue volunteer for all intensive purposes. “new guys in town 3 of them have no idea who they r” She hits send. 

“Visual?” David texts her back almost instantly. “No pic, but between 35-40 ish, one’s really tall and needs a haircut. Other guy has short hair kinda blondish. Both wearing tractor supply store attire. Other guy dark hair intense eyes and put together. Dress shirt and trenchcoat.”

“I’ll tell em to point eyes at them.” David shoots back. Granny thinks Emma is probably reading these texts over her father’s shoulder at the kitchen counter anyway.

…  
“You know who the Koch Brothers are?”  
“Ugh, Sam. Yes. There’s this thing. It’s called ‘the News’.”  
The younger brother just looks to the heavens with an exasperated expression as he unpacks his duffle bag.

“So what’s with “molecules” anyway?” Dean asks as he places their meager belongings in the empty drawers.  
“Ha. Ask Cas, it’s funnier when he tells it.”  
Dean draws his eyebrows together and looks to the side, his mouth forming a straight line. “Fine, leave me out of your inside jokes.”  
“Dean, it’s not even a joke. I think Cas misses human stuff, like eating. But it’s different for him now, that’s all.”  
“Huh. Yeah you’re right. It’s probably funnier when Cas tells it.”

…

Castiel sits at the small desk by the door to his room. He honestly has no idea why the Winchesters sprung for an additional room. It’s not like he needs a bed for sleeping in anymore.

“I suppose it would be strange” He thinks aloud, when he remembers that humans have specific protocols he has yet to grasp. Even now that he’s experienced humanity first hand, some concepts just escape him.

Like dreaming. It was strange when it first happened to him. But he kind of liked it.

Cas is about to puff himself into the neighboring room. He stops himself from performing his vanishing act, and rises from his chair. He opens the door to his room and crosses the hall to knock on the opposite door. 

“Hey Cas.” Dean says, he opens their door and turns away. Cas enters, closing it after himself.  
“Do you even have a plan?” Asks the angel.  
“Well, I was thinking we were going to kill the coven. Right Sam?”

“I don’t know if that’s even possible Dean. Did you see--- feel that power? I really don’t know. Maybe we should just bail? They know we’re here already.”

 

“But they don’t know who we are. According to those files, this whole town is full of people from another world. Like, a parallel universe or something. So we just tell people we were, like, servants or vendors or something. No one can remember everyone from their hometown anyway. Even if it’s just like a hundred people, can you put a name to the face right away?”

“Dean makes a good point” Says Castiel

“And plus, a bunch of non-locals probably got swept up in that spell. You know, people just passing through. Travelers on the road. We’ll just say we got lost of something.”

“I hate it when we wing it.” Sam frowns as he thumbs the pages of the files he brought along.

“Yeah I know, but we’re not. Come on, it’s a decent cover until we can get some more info about the coven.”

…

“So what do you think?” Regina asks Emma as they sit in the mayor’s vintage Jaguar, looking toward Granny’s.

“I think it’s a bit flashy doing a stakeout in your car.”  
“Oh, and a yellow Bug would be less conspicuous?”

Emma just looks to the sky searching for some sort of rebuttal. The Impala the guys rolled up in is probably the newest car this town has seen since… five hours ago. 

“How long are we going to sit here anyway?”  
“Until we see some activity. Did you see frumpy trenchcoat in the diner before? When I came in with the ingredients for the spell?”  
“I honestly was focused on other things. Did you see him?”  
“Kind of, I passed the Dwarves and he was hanging back behind them.”  
“So?”  
“So duh, I wouldn’t have recognized him. Just wondering if you might have known him on the flip side.”  
“Why would I?”  
“I don’t know, Granny says she doesn’t know them. But only people who came over can come and go as they please now, right?”  
Regina becomes stiff in her seat.  
“Right?” Emma asks.  
Regina just folds her arms and looks out her window.  
“You didn’t restore the protection spell after Zelena came, did you.” It’s not a question, but a statement.  
“I’m not the only bitch around here with a capital W anymore, you could have restored the protection spell yourself. If you were so inclined to that is.”  
“Regina!”  
“Swan! Seriously, I rely on spells. You were born with the natural gift, it’s a cinch for you! You should flex your new wings more, see what you’re made of.”  
Emma just sighs. Of course she could have. She was just depending on Regina to restore the spell, since she cast it in the first place.

…

“Blondie and stone face are watching us.”  
Dean looks out to the street through the plastic blinds. Some flowery curtains are drawn to the side. There’s still a bit of daylight, so the lights in their room aren’t on yet. 

“Who’s stoneface?” Asks Sam.  
“The Mayor.” Cas replies, he’s looking in the same direction as Dean. “She was at the center of the gathering casting the spell with the Sheriff.”

“So the Mayor? And the Sheriff? They are leading this coven?” Sam says.  
“I think they are the coven, the people in the diner weren’t really participating in the spell.” Cas, turns to Sam’s papers, and flips to one of the middle pages.

“It looks like the Mills and the Charmings. Those are the families with witches”  
“The ‘Charmings’? Really guys?” Dean has been skeptical from the beginning. Sure, he knows there are witches, monsters of all sorts, but witches and monsters from fairy tale land? He’s sure that the Men of Letters were writing fiction when Sam came across this file.

“Dean, Zelena is from Oz. There was a porthole to Oz here. In this town.” Sam says, referring to the information in the file in question.

“Hmm, maybe we should pay a visit to the Charmings in the morning? Claim to be former servants? Ask for jobs?” Dean wonders out loud, mostly directed toward Sam.

“Sounds like an in. They were the ruling family, they couldn’t remember every face could they?”  
“I guess we’ll find out. If we get blown, I guess we better have a full tank of gas ready.”

…

“Hiya Granny. I hope you could help me out?”  
Dean flashes his patented blue steel smile. Granny just looks up from her paperwork at the sign in desk and stares blankly up at him.  
“With what?”  
Dean seems deflated, even if it’s a cranky old lady.  
“Uh, I was looking for the Charmings? My brother and I used to work in the castle and we were hoping to find some work in town.”  
“Where you been?”  
“Traveling,” Sam interjects, “When the spell fell the first time, we made a break for it. But the outside world just isn’t our thing.”  
“Huh,” Granny closes her ledger and pulls her glasses off, “You know, I don’t recognize your faces. And I’d like to think I know everyone.”  
“Yeah, we’re just… ‘background players’, I guess you could say. We did all the crap jobs around the summer palace.”  
“Well, I don’t think they’re at the apartment now. David is probably at the shelter already, and Mary Margaret is probably out with the baby.”  
“Great, thanks a lot.” Sam says, as he walks away he gives Granny a small wave goodbye.  
“Dude, what shelter?”  
“I’m sure there’s a yellow pages, or whatever their version of the yellow pages is here in bizarro town.”

…

There’s only one shelter listed and it’s not a homeless shelter. Dean and Cas drive to the Animal Rescue while Sam walks about town chatting up the locals. Dean pulls into a ‘reserved for cat lovers’ spot three parking spaces from the front door.

“But Dean, you’re allergic to cats.”  
“It’s just a joke. It’s not the law or anything, sheesh Cas.”

They enter the building, Dean’s eyes instantly tear up at the edges. Cas sniffs the air, it’s a mixture of wet dog, litter box and lysol odors swirled together.

“Hello, I’m David.” A clean shaven man with a neat haircut and blue eyes meets them at the desk. “Granny called me.”

“Oh great,” Dean smiles, holds his hand out, “Not sure if you remember me, but we used to work at Snow’s summer palace. I’m John, this is Bobby”  
David comes from behind the desk and shakes Dean’s hand. “Sorry no, might have been before my time at the palace. But I’d be happy to help you guys out. We could always use extra hands around here.”  
“Actually, my partner’s allergic to cats, I was thinking I could help you here. Perhaps… John, could be useful elsewhere?” Cas says suddenly.

“Oh yeah, sorry I didn’t realize. You’ve got the waterworks pretty bad. Let’s step outside for a minute and talk more.”

David turns to retrieve the phone from the cradle just incase someone calls the shelter while they’re outside. Dean turns to Cas close to his shoulder, “Partner?”  
“I didn’t know what to say, ‘partner’ is usually a fed thing right?”  
“Oh, yeah. Right, I guess.”

Dean sits next to David on the bench next to the front door of the shelter. Cas stands next to David’s truck. “My wife could use a hand at home. How are you with kids?”  
“I could be the ‘manny’?” Dean asks.  
“Yeah, I guess. Of course Mary Margret needs to see you first. She might remember you better.”  
“Sure, want to text her? I could meet up with her for lunch or something?”  
“Sounds good. Bobby?” David looks up to Cas, who is looking off into the distance. Dean lightly taps the front of Cas’ shoe.  
“Oh, yes?”  
“Would you like to start today? I could really use the help.”  
“Of course David, John, I’ll see you later tonight?”  
“Sure thing. I’ll let you know what happens at lunch okay?”  
Dean stands, and leans into Cas’ neck. He hovers for a second, and quickly pecks his cheek.  
“Have a great day,” and Dean walks off to the Impala, trying so hard not to sprint in his embarrassment.  
David just smiles at that. “So, how long have you guys been together?”  
“Hmm?” Cas is baffled, he has no idea what just happened.

…  
Dean calls Sam from the room. He can hear street noises. Sam is still walking around, taking in the sights so to speak.

“So Cas introduced us as a couple to Prince Charming, animal control officer.”  
“What?”  
“He forgot we’re not posing as feds here.”  
“Oh, poor Cas.” Sam sighs and shakes his head.  
“ ‘Poor Cas’? Really? Poor me! I got to keep this thing up since Cas is pretty much clueless.”  
“Okay, I’m sure it’s going to be really tough on you.” Sam says, rolling his eyes up to the corner of their flowery wallpapered room.  
“Dude, shut up. You cull anything useful from the villagers?”  
“Not really. Had an interesting conversation at the pawnshop though.”  
“There’s a pawnshop?”  
“Yeah, cute girl behind the counter. But we got interrupted. Get this, by her grandson.”  
“Okay when you say ‘cute girl…?”  
“About 30 maybe. And this kid, like 14 years old, came in and called her ‘grandma’.”  
“What’d she do?”  
“Just smiled at him. He put on an apron and said he was going to ‘sweep out back first’.”

…

David sends Mary Margaret a text, “one of the strangers in town wants to meet up with you.”  
Snow responds right away with a question mark.

David sends another text, “Guys say they worked at the summer palace doing shit jobs. Say they took off after the spell broke the first time around. Now they’re back and they’re broke.”

It takes Snow a minute to respond. “Sure I guess I can see if I know the guy. Granny’s? At noon.”

David turns to Cas, who is putting his fingers in one of the cages holding three small kittens. “Hey Bobby,” It takes a moment for Cas to look away, “Snow says she’ll meet John at noon at Granny’s. Want to text your guy? Then I’ll show you around.”  
“Um, sure. Thanks a lot.” Cas takes out his burner and texts Dean the appointment information.  
“No description?” Dean texts back.  
“I didn’t think it would be wise to ask, since we’re supposed to know her already.” Cas responds.  
“Right, thanks.” Dean shoots back.

Dean is alone in the room, thinking out loud to himself. “Okay, I got lunch with a royal. Which flannel should I wear?”

…

Mary Margaret sits at a table in the middle of the diner, so she can maneuver the stroller in a way that she can see the baby’s face. She orders some herbal tea, avoiding caffeine. Malificent is across the way sitting in a booth with Lily, and Killian is sitting at the counter, in front of the mirrored toaster oven door. They’re all doing a bit of spying on this ‘John’ character while Emma and Regina keep tabs on the plaid clad giant doing the rounds around town.

When Dean enters the diner he spots the lady with the baby right away. He nods at her and makes his way over. Snow smiles up at him.

“Hi! Have a seat, I ordered you coffee. Not sure how you take it though.”  
“Black is fine, thanks a lot.”  
“So, David told me you and your friend worked at the summer palace?”  
“Yeah, a long… long time ago. Not sure if we ever actually met.”  
“Hmm, you know I’m really good with faces. I would’ve remembered you.”  
“Well, my brother and I did a lot of crumby jobs. Like garbage removal and things. My buddy Bobby was a vendor. Mostly dealt with people in the kitchens.”  
“Ah, I see.” Snow sips her tea, and looks to Killian in the reflective surface he’s staring into. “Well, how are you with kids?”  
“I love ‘em.” Dean smiles fondly at the little baby, “I had a stepson, long time ago.”  
“Where is he now?” Snow looks over her cup, seeing Dean’s sad eyes.  
“He… he’s not here.”  
“Oh. I’m so sorry.”  
“Hey, not your fault right?”  
“Well, no. Not the first time anyway.”  
Dean just looks away, thinking about her remarks. “Well, I don’t know what you’re thinking. But Maybe I could do like, a trial run? Just a few days to start? See if he likes me?”  
“That would be a relief. I usually have a good handle on reading people. You seem honest enough.” Snow smiles down at Neal.

…

Sam enters the paint store, looking at the help wanted sign. At least it’s an opener.  
“Hi, I see you’re looking for help?”  
“Hello, new around here?” A small man in overalls and a baseball cap turns to him from a large shelving unit full of ready made paint.  
“Kind of. I’m sure you heard. I used to work for the Charmings, back in the day…”  
“Didn’t we all?”  
“Well, I’m looking for a job. Just to get me back in the swing of things, until an apartment or something opens up. Hopefully I won’t be at Granny’s forever.”  
“Right. Well, real estate is limited around here. But I probably didn’t have to tell you that.”  
“Yeah, I know. Everything’s pretty much taken.”  
The old man takes out a clip board with a simple job application. It’s only a single side, some things are crossed out by hand. Sam begins to fill it out.  
“I can’t believe the Charmings are all stuffed into that loft apartment.” Sam says, looking down at the paper.  
“Yeah, I think Emma’s been staying over more at Regina’s place though.”  
“Oh really? The mayor and the sheriff? That’s not like, a conflict of interest or anything?”  
“Well, it’s old news around here.”  
Sam hmms at that statement. He turns the clipboard over to face the man. He reads the top line.  
“Well, pleasure to meet you Ash. I’ll be in touch, probably as soon as tomorrow. I really need a guy in here on the weekends.”  
“That’s great. Thanks so much.”

Sam walks out and texts Dean. “The sheriff + mayor r together”  
Dean text back in a few minutes. “Wut”  
Sam texts back “The blond, and the mayor, they live together.”  
Dean text back right away “that dont mean they r ‘together’ together tho”  
Sam just looks at his phone and sighs. He thinks his brother needs to get his gaydar checked.

…

“We give the animals quirky names so they get adopted faster.” David sits on the floor beside some pups nursing their adoptive mother, a golden retriever who just gave birth a week ago. Four of her pups didn’t make it. But two are nursing alongside their new brothers.

Cas looks down at a new litter of puppies, pitbull terrier mixes. “Does it work?”  
“Most of the time. My grandson helps out with the names sometimes.”  
Cas peers over at David’s open laptop. Apparently Storybrooke has an internal web network, and David’s got a page for the shelter up. There is one kitten in the “featured” section named ‘Ovaltine’.

“Hmm, ok. Let’s see. Hold up the one closest to you, yeah that one.”  
Cas follows David’s instructions, and holds up one pup who’s done nursing and he’s gone completely limp. David takes a quick photo with his phone and enters his picture editor.

Cas draws the puppy close to him, settling it on his lap. “What’s this one called?”  
David smiles down at his phone, “Well, I thought I’d start you off with a fun job first. Before I show you how to disinfect the litter boxes.”

Cas looks down at the sleeping puppy. It’s belly rising up and down with breath. Little freckles dot it’s underside, while a stripe adorns its back.

“Pants.”  
“What?”  
Cas looks at David and says his carefully selected name again. “Pants. That’s what he’s thinking right now.”  
David looks at Cas carefully. He smiles, “You know, my wife speaks to animals too, but mostly birds.”  
David enters the name “Pants” into the database along with the picture from his phone.

...

Dean and Sam meet up in the room. Cas is still working his shift with David.  
“So whadya got Sammy?”  
“Apparently the sheriff’s department and the mayor’s office are in bed together. Literally.”  
“Oh please, I don’t think so.”  
“Well, I asked around, it’s not the first time. The old sheriff was the mayor’s boy toy.”  
Dean’s face blanks. “So?”  
“So?” Sam can’t believe his brother is so not seeing this, “Emma Swan and Regina Mills, they’re the coven! It’s just the two of them, and they live together at the mayor’s mansion. That kid at the pawn shop? That’s their kid.”  
Dean draws his eyebrows together.  
“Explain this again. From the beginning. Like I’m a small learning disabled child.”  
Sam huffs, “Okay. Mary Margaret and David, Emma’s their kid. That kid from the pawn shop? That’s Emma’s kid. The mayor, Regina? She’s Mary Margaret’s step mom. Also, Regina adopted Emma’s boy. Emma gave the kid up because she went inside, did time for grand larceny.”  
Dean sits down and rubs his right temple. “Like… How?”  
“I don’t know. I guess time moves differently here because everyone looks like they’re around 30, 35-ish. Except the diner owner, and a handful of other people.”  
Dean leans his elbows over his knees.  
“Tell me there’s a mini bar in this floral puke fest of a room.”

…

When Cas returns from the animal shelter he informs the boys that Mary Margaret speaks to birds. It’s the only thing of value he got out of David, and he spent the whole goddamn day with the guy.

“Dean, I was kind of busy. You know, working?”  
“Geez Cas, I dunno you couldn’t chat him up a bit?”  
“My people skills are rusty.”  
Sam smiles down at this laptop while the two talk over him.

Without any further discussion, Cas leaves their room to go across the hall.

Dean turns to the bed, and draws the comforter down  
“Well I’m beat. I got to be with that baby all day tomorrow so I’m turning in early.”  
“Ahem.” Sam’s gaze on Dean is stern.  
“What now?”  
“Dean, maybe you should go to Cas’ room.”  
“Why?”  
“The ‘partner’ thing, remember?”  
“Pfft, you really think I need to?”  
“Cas doesn’t sleep anymore anyway.” Sam informs him.  
“It’s weird okay? What’s he gonna do all night anyway?” Dean wonders.  
“Well hopefully he’ll take a shower, Came in here smelling like a zoo.”

…

Dean walks over to Cas’ room and knocks. Cas doesn’t answer, but Dean turns the knob. Unlocked. “What the fuck Cas, seriously?” Dean says quietly to himself. He hears the shower going. He looks around the room. There’s a little loveseat under three windows, a desk with a small chair, and a queen bed. That’s it.

The water shuts off, Dean can hear Cas pull the shower curtain back. The curtain rings scraping against the rod. It takes a moment for Dean to call out to him. “Hey Cas, I’m out here.”

Cas comes into the room, rubbing a towel through his hair. “Why?”  
“Um…” Dean looks away, “Could you cover up?”  
“Oh, of course.” Cas takes the towel and wraps it around his waist.  
“I thought you got your juice back, why the shower?”  
“I like it.” Cas sits on the edge of the bed. “Why are you in here?”  
“Why’d you leave the door unlocked?”  
Cas just looks up at Dean with his squinty eyes. 

Dean’s arms sweep up, his palms are turned forward.  
“I guess we got to keep up appearances.”  
Cas’ expression doesn’t change.  
“You know, because of what you said to David?”  
“What did I say to David?”  
Dean scrunches his nose, “You called me your ‘partner’ remember?”  
“Okay, yes. I remember.”  
They just stare at eachother for a moment too long.  
“And?” Cas asks Dean.  
“And… I guess I got to sleep in here.”  
“Oh, okay.”  
“Do you still sleep? Or is that boring human stuff to you now?”  
“No, it was never boring.”  
There is a beat too long filled with an uncomfortable silence. Cas lets out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding in.  
“I used to watch over you while you slept, sleeping was never boring to me.”  
Dean rolls his eyes, “I meant you. Do you sleep?”  
Cas shakes his head slightly, as if he’d just come out of a daydream.  
“Oh, yes. I sleep sometimes. Well, I try to. I miss dreaming.”  
“When you were human? You dreamed?”  
“Yes.”  
Dean sits next to Cas and the bed sinks, “What did you dream about?”  
Cas smiles down at his hands, “My wings. Flying.”  
Dean has a second to process that, he files away that small fond smile on Cas’ face for future reference and slaps his knee.  
“Sweet. Well, I guess the bed’s big enough. Just don’t hog the covers, okay?”

…

Dean’s stiff as a board when he wakes. He’s up before Cas, so he hops into the shower and turns the water to the hottest setting. That mattress is too soft for him.

His muscles relax a bit, but not enough. The water runs lukewarm after only five minutes. Dean gets out before it turns ice cold on him.

He comes back into the room to Cas changing into Dean’s old clothes from yesterday.  
“What are you doing?”  
“I can’t show up at the shelter in my shirt and tie. David told me to wear something more ‘casual’.” Cas even does the air quotes.

Dean smiles, “Okay sure. But don’t go commando in there, I don’t think I’ve ever washed those jeans.”

... 

Sam takes his laptop downstairs to the diner and grabs a yogurt and juice off the counter and pays at the register. Dean meets him down there about ten minutes after Sam gets himself settled.

“What’s on the agenda today?” Dean asks.  
“I guess I’m just waiting on the paint store guy to call while you play Mr. Mom.”  
“Hmm…” Dean motions for Red to come with coffee. She nods and grabs a cup and saucer from the counter.  
“Up and at ‘em early huh boys?”  
“Yup, first day on the job.” Dean says, he winks up at her.  
Red just smiles a crooked smile. “Well, Neal’s a handful, I think everyone in town’s had a turn looking after him.”  
“Aw, well. I love kids. Piece of cake.”  
Red just turns her smile into a straight line. “Well, good luck there.”  
As Red walks away, Sam looks up from his screen, “You hate cake.”  
Dean huffs, “Yeah, well…”

…

“I pulled up some things off the web about these guys,” Henry sits in the library with Regina. She’s written him a note to get out of school for the day. 

Regina peers over his shoulder, “Oh my god, they’re psychopaths.”  
There are old headlines from the various occasions the Winchesters had been declared legally dead. There is video of an old news report of their murder rampage from a few years back. On paper, or rather in pixels, the boys don’t have a shining reputation.

“I really don’t think so Mom. Check out these blogs.” There are personal accounts from people who call them heroes, and they go on to explain how and why they’ve met. “They’re ‘hunters’, what does that even mean?”  
“Um…” Regina’s mind swirls with reasons why these men have come to Storybrooke. “I’m going to get Red to hang out with you, okay? I got to see Emma.”

…

Regina runs/ walks to the Sheriff’s department.  
Emma is sitting at her desk trying to navigate the text editor on her computer. It’s really a ‘word processor’ with a black screen with green text over it. It’s hurting her eyes.  
“They came here for us.”  
Emma looks up to Regina, “What?”  
“They’re hunters, they came here to kill some witches. That’s their thing.”  
“What are ‘hunters’?”  
Regina just sighs, she forgets that Emma is really new to this whole witch thing.  
“They kill monsters, that includes us.”  
“Oh.” Emma sits back in her chair and looks up at Regina. “But, we’re like… contained here. It’s not like we’re killing civilians on the outside or anything.”  
“No, Swan. You don’t get it. Henry brought up all this stuff online about these guys. The two brothers, they’re total psychos. Mass murderers. I don’t think you’re going to be able to rationalize our behavior to them.”  
Emma just draws her eyebrows together and continues to look at Regina’s face. Okay, Emma thinks, she’s seriously afraid. Regina’s never afraid of anything. Well, maybe Cora. But nothing else.

“Don’t worry, you’ll get wrinkles.” Emma stands and pulls her jacket on.  
“Where are you going?”  
“To pay these guys a friendly visit.”  
“Bringing out the welcome wagon?”  
“I guess so.”  
“No, really. We used to hand out baskets full of things from local merchants on Main Street.”  
“Seriously? How come I didn’t get one?”  
“Because I hated you.”  
Emma just leans into Regina’s space. “Oh, yeah. Right.” And brushes her lips across Regina’s stiff face. “Just… Go about your routine. I’ll check in around lunch time.”  
Regina inhales deeply, and just watches Emma walk away. she waves at her through the window as she passes. Regina sits at the Sheriff’s desk and looks at the screen she left open.  
“God, Swan. How do you look at this thing all day?”  
Regina makes a mental note to look into the town’s budget to upgrade the sheriff’s department computer software.

…

Dean gets to the address Mary Margaret texted him earlier. The building is a little run down but honestly, Dean’s seen worse. He knocks on the door at the top of the stairs.

The door is answered by David, he smiles at Dean. “Hey there, here for diaper duty.”  
“Yup, reporting for duty sir.” He smiles as David moves to the side and invites him in. 

It’s a loft apartment, really spare. Not much furniture, but plenty of small stuffed toys and a playpen in the center, close to the kitchen island. Dean hears some small whimpering sounds and Mary Margaret’s voice humming nearby. 

“She’s giving Neal a quick bath. He got oatmeal all down the front of his shirt.”  
David pours coffee in a paper cup and puts a top on it. “She goes back to work next week. We’re kind of hoping you work out long term.”  
David motions to Dean, in a way he asks Dean if he wants a cup of coffee.  
“Sure, just half a cup though. The brew at Granny’s is pretty thick.”  
“Oh, yeah. She still uses the old percolator method. I swear she burns it every time.”  
Devis pours a mug half full and puts it on the counter for Dean. It’s got the Deathly Hallows symbol on the side. “My grandson’s a Harry Potter fan.” David says, his back turned to Dean as he assembles a simple sandwich for his lunch. David pauses his movements, and turns to Dean.

“Say, does Bobby have any food allergies? Think I should make him a sandwich too?”  
Dean just looks at David for a moment, “Uh… yeah. I mean no, no allergies. That’s great, thanks a lot.”  
“No problem, I think we forgot to break for lunch yesterday. Guy’s too sweet, he didn’t even mention it.”  
“Yeah… he is.” Dean sips his coffee trying to hide his face.

Mary Margaret comes out of the bathroom with a fresh clean baby in a big fluffy towel in her arms.  
“Hi John! I’m glad to see you.” She pecks David on the cheek as he spins around to the cabinet behind her for sandwich bags.  
Dean thinks it’s kind of weird. They used to live in a castle, and now they’re here in this dump. But they seem pretty happy regardless of their surroundings. He wonders what that’s like.

“So, I made a list of emergency numbers, but really I don’t think you’re going to need them.” Snow pulls a diaper and a small tee on Neal. He’s sitting up now, and he’s placed in his little pop up playpen. “I’ll be going to the school today to check in with the principal, set up my classroom and all that. Then afterward I’ll be at Granny’s with a friend for lunch. I should be back around 3 or so, I want to hit the market before I get home.”

“Sounds good. I’ll call or text if anything comes up.”

…

Emma enters the diner to see Grumpy and the Blue Fairy finishing up their meals at their respective tables. Sam is at a table in the center of the floor, laptop open, empty juice carton and yogurt cup at his side.

The sheriff is anything but subtle, she makes her way over to Sam and sits at the table.  
“Um, hi?” Sam looks up to see Emma with her serious face on.  
“Sam Winchester, we need to talk.”  
“Uh…” Shit, Sam thinks.  
“Yeah, I know who you and your brother are. And I know that other guy you’re with, “Jimmy Novak”, he’s been missing for like six years.”  
“That’s… not exactly accurate.”  
“Well, I need to have a conversation with you, at the sheriff’s station.”  
“Am I under arrest?”  
“No, I just want to talk with you.”  
“Well, we can talk here right? You’ve had eyes on us since we got here. It’s not like we’re alone.”  
Emma just looks at Sam, trying to gauge his responses.  
“Listen, I have some things I want to show you. And I want truthful answers.”  
Sam just sighs, “When we get to the station, I get a phone call right?”

…

Mary Margaret and David walk out of the apartment together and make their way to their car, parked on the street. “Okay, so I’ll drop you at the mayor’s office and you and Regina are going to watch this guy?”  
Henry muscled a pinhole camera he ordered off ebay into the eye of Neal’s teddybear. It’s perched on the edge of the loft, looking down at the main floor space.  
“That’s the plan.” David makes a face, “Stop.” Mary Margaret says, “We’ll be almost right next door. Like 2 minutes away.”  
“Did you not hear Emma this morning before Dean showed up?”  
“Yes, I did! Listen, I got a good feeling about this guy. I don’t think he’d hurt a kid.”  
David just looks forward.  
“Hey,” Snow puts a hand on David’s wrist. His hands wrapping around the wheel in a painful grip. “Trust me?”  
David lets out a long breath. “Of course.”

…

Sam gets in the front seat next to Emma in the sheriff’s car. Sam has a few pre-set texts and shoots one off to Dean while he gets in the car, his thigh hiding the phone in his hand.

Emma pulls the seatbelt over herself. Really, though. I just want to talk to you.”  
“Yeah, sure.”  
“You guys are hunters?”  
“Yeah.”  
“For how long now?”  
“Well, we’re born in the life.”  
“Family business? Yeah, I get that.”  
“I see you’re kind of in the same boat here in this town.”  
“Pretty much, yeah.”

Emma pulls into the parking lot at the station. Sam follows her into the building.

…

“Shit.”  
Dean’s in the middle of opening all the cupboards and drawers, looking for something. Anything on the Charmings, when he gets Sam’s text.  
“Funky Town + five O”, as Dean read this Neal comes out of his unplanned nap. He sits himself up against the mesh of the playpen and makes grabbing motions with his hands.  
“Up?” Dean asks him.  
He picks him up and says “So, what should I do? Call your mom, tell her my brother’s been made?”  
Neal just opens his mouth and squeaks at him.

…

Regina and Snow are sitting in the mayor’s office with Regina’s laptop open to the page Henry password protected. It’s the live feed from the camera inside the loft.  
“Looks like he’s not panicking yet.” Mary Margaret says.  
“Emma just brought the big guy in.” Regina looks down at her phone to see Emma’s text.  
“Snow, why don’t you get home? Make like you forgot something.”  
…

About five minutes after Dean gets Sam’s text, Mary Margaret turns the key in the door of the loft.  
“Hi guys!. Sorry John I just kinda had a mini panic attack.” Snow takes Neal out of Dean’s arm, Dean’s got his phone in his hand.  
“Maybe I’m going back to work too early.” She coos at Neal, he wraps a small hand around her fingers.  
“I was just about to text you. Seems like my brother got into some trouble. I need to get out of here.”  
“Oh. I hope everything’s okay?”  
“Yeah, no big. I just was wondering, do you know where the sheriff’s station is?”

…

Cas and David are moving some of the animals to crates temporarily as they clean the stacked cages in sections. David is showing Cas the ‘green’ cleaners when Cas’ phone starts to chime.

“You should get that,” David says.  
“Thank you. I won’t be long.”

Cas steps into the bathroom and calls Dean back.  
“Sam’s with the sheriff, she just took him in.”  
“What for?”  
“I don’t know yet, but I got a very convenient out from babysitting.”  
Cas is quiet for a moment.  
“I think they had some surveillance on me.”  
“Dean, be careful.”  
“Don’t worry yet, okay? Just keep David over there, if he gets a visit or a phone call text me.”  
“Alright.”

…

“This look familiar, Sam?”  
Emma clicks the links Henry emailed her on her tablet.  
“I… I can explain this.”  
“You were declared legally dead, along with your brother, three years ago. After you went on a murder spree.”  
“That wasn’t us.”  
“Then who was it?”  
“You’re not gonna believe me.”  
“Try me.”  
Emma has eyes on Sam, her mouth a straight line. He sees that she’s serious. The daughter of Prince Charming and Snow White, what hasn’t she heard before?  
“Monsters. Impersonating us.”  
Emma is still for a moment.  
“So, are there more of them?”  
“No, we took care of it.”  
“Okay, fine.”  
Sam looks confused. “What does that mean?”  
“It means I believe you’re telling the truth. Or you think that’s the truth.”  
Emma throws the files from Sam’s room on the table.  
“What is this?”  
Sam just makes himself still. “I don’t know.”  
“I had Granny toss your room. What are these files? Where did you come from? Because I know you didn’t come from here.”

“I thought I was going to get a phone call?”

…

 

A white ‘87 celica supra rolls past the town line into Storybrooke. A woman with dip dyed red and pink hair is in the drivers seat. She looks like she knows exactly where she’s going.

The gravel on the driveway leading to the sanitarium is a big no-no for her girl. So she parks at the curb and walks the rest of the way. She’s dressed in a white bandage dress and she’s barefoot. Her heels in her hand. Her skin is tanned brown, her oversized glasses are a dark tinted lens set in a white frame.

As she gets to the grass in front of the steps of the building, she drops her shoes to the ground and wiggles her toes into them. Her bag tucked under her arm. She makes her way up the stairs, a nurse at the main desk stares at her, but makes no move to stop her. The nurse is paralyzed.

The woman makes her way through winding corridors until she gets to her destination. She stops at the small window to confirm her subject inside. She slides the slot made for trays of food aside and peaks through the opening.

“Hello Zelena. I think you have something that belongs to me.”

…

Dean pulls into the sheriff’s station. He’s wondering if he should be packing when he goes in there. But it would probably be poor form to bring a weapon into a police station.

There’s no one at the desk when he walks in, it’s deserted. He walks down the halls past the desk and past the glass windows that enclose the sheriff’s desk and the drunk tank. Sam is sitting across from Emma at her desk. They look like they’re having an easy conversation.

Dean waves, Emma motions at him to come in. Dean comes to Emma and Sam, he sits next to Sam and they lock eyes for a moment. Dean looks forward toward Emma.  
“So, that’s this about?”  
“Dean, Emma knows.”

“Sam tells me you guys met Zelena? But not our Zelena, I guess.”  
Dean throws a stern look toward Sam. Sam just slumps his shoulders.  
“It’s kind of my super power.” Emma states, giving Sam a sympathetic look.

“Apparently the wicked witch we met, that’s the same witch they just put in the looney bin.” Sam informs Dean.  
“She cast a time travel spell, so her mother would have kept her instead of her sister.” Emma adds.

Dean just looks to Emma with his shoulders tight. “So?”  
Sam leans into Dean’s side and mutters, “So if we contain Zelena here, if we interfere with her time line we mess up Oz.”

Oh. Oh! Dean’s brain finally puts it together.  
“I really don’t think we have anything to offer you here.”  
“Listen! If You met with Zelena recently… that’s just impossible. How could she have been an old hag? She’s just three years older than Regina.”  
“Impossible is kinda our thing.” Says Sam.  
…

The pink and red haired woman makes her way past Main Street, she’s going toward the new mansion that popped up after the last major incident. She pulls into the driveway, the gate seems to anticipate her arrival. It parts for her and she moves like she owns the place.

Because she does.

She doesn’t use the key, she simply hovers her hand over the knob at the front door. She goes inside, the door closing behind her as if by magic. She makes her way to the library, full of blank books. She takes one, seemingly at random, and flips through the empty pages. She gets to the back of the page, and flips through backwards. At the center page there’s a pen that falls to the floor.

…

Regina joins Emma in the sheriff’s office. She listens to Sam continue to spill his guts to Emma. Regina seems to move around Emma’s office with comfortable ease. She sits at a chair next to Graham's’ old desk. 

“So, ‘Men of Letters’. Is that like, the Talamasca?” Asks Regina.  
“What’s the Talamasca?” Sam asks.  
“Bunch of librarians. They came here once before.”  
Dean can’t help but wonder, “What happened to them?”  
“They died.” Regina crosses her legs and jerks her head to get her hair out of her face.

Emma stares at Regina, her head tilted to her shoulder.  
“They did! Really, I didn’t have anything to do with it.”  
“Hmm… you killed those campers.”  
“Who told you that?”  
“Graham.”  
“He did not.”  
“Well, you just did.”  
Regina just looks to the floor. “Do we have to talk about this now?”

Dean fights back the urge to chuckle, these witches could just end him and Sam right now. But they keep talking.

…

Emma lets Dean and Sam go. The return to their ransacked room.  
Cas is in his room already, his door flies open when he hears their door open.  
“What happened?” Cas stinks to high heaven.  
“We got grilled by the sheriff and the mayor.” Sam says.  
“She even said, ‘Don’t plan on leaving town’, like we haven’t heard that before.” Dean smirks as he gathers up clothes from the floor.  
“Not from a powerful coven, who runs the whole town. A town that technically does not exist.” Sam says, “I think we need to cooperate.”  
“What?”  
“I can’t stop thinking about Charlie.”  
Dean blinks hard, “What?”  
“Listen to me. If we stop Zelena here, we stop her from messing with Dorothy. We stop her from trying to get back to Oz. We stop Charlie from going to Oz with Dorothy. We stop her from coming back from Oz with her split personality. If she didn’t come back like that, she would have never come into this whole thing with the mark. I wouldn’t have asked her for help---”  
“Stop!” Dean grabs at Sam’s shoulders, “Listen, Charlie was all on me. Ok? She wanted to help me, and there really was no stopping her.”

The angel is slumped in the doorway. He’s got a ping of guilt in his chest too. “I think there’s plenty of blame to go around,” Cas says in a small voice.

“If we stop Zelena here, we change her future. Our future, if we do that how will we know to come here? We won’t. The only reason we’re here is because you went poking around the files in the bunker and the word Oz caught your interest. Because we had previous experiences with Oz.”

Sam looks defeated at Dean’s realization. “Fucking time travel.” Dean says under his breath. 

…

The woman in the tight white dress takes a seat in the house, in a comfortable arm chair in the drawing room. She flicks her wrist and lights a fire in the great big fireplace. The pen in her hand, and the blank book in her lap, she begins to write.

She starts with a family tree. She writes Cora Mills, and her daughters names. She then writes her own name, and her own children. They are long gone. Murdered a lifetime ago. Is 35 years a lifetime? She wonders.

…

Emma is outside with David in front of Granny’s.  
“This guy’s gonna be pissed.” David looks around, making sure no one’s looking at them too hard.  
“Yeah well, I have to make sure they don’t leave.” Emma tightens the bolts on the side.  
“I’m pretty sure the guy they’re with isn’t human.”  
“What?”  
“Yeah, I saw wings.”  
Emma just looks at David with a blank look. “What are you talking about?”  
“Angels.”  
“Geez, angels. Really? They were in the Enchanted Forest?”  
“They’re everywhere.”  
Emma just sighs, “So what makes you so special, how come you see him and no one else does?”  
“That’s kind of a long story.”  
Emma scowls at her father. “Come on let’s get out of here before they come out. You’re buying me pizza and then you’re gonna tell me all about angels.”

…

The woman with the punk hair and the slick white car rolls up to Granny’s. She parallel parks behind the black car. The book in her passenger seat, the pen tucked behind her ear. She walks into the diner with the book tucked under her arm. She sits at the counter, her legs too short to reach the floor so her heels lock on to the first rung of bars across the stool. No one seems to notice her. She waits.

Henry comes in with Red. She points to a counter seat and proceeds to take her coat off and puts her apron on. She starts to wait on patrons.

Henry takes a seat next to the woman in white. She smiles down at him and he smiles back. “Like your hair,” He says. He looks to the book.

“Hey, where’d you get that?”  
“That big empty house on the hill,” She responds. Wanna see?”  
“Um…” Henry has no time to come up with a response, suddenly this woman is gone. Vanished. She leaves behind the book and the pen. Henry opens the cover to reveal the family tree that was illustrated so beautifully.  
He’s really confused. He thinks to himself out loud.  
“Cora had a sister?”

…

Mystery lady is leaning on the Impala when the boys come outside.  
“Aww, come on!” Dean yells out to no one.  
A bright orange boot adorns the front wheel.  
“Well, she did say ‘don’t leave town’ right?” Sam says.  
“AAAaargh!” Dean takes a knee and caresses the gleaming black paint above the boot.  
“Ahem,” the woman tries to make herself known.  
“Hey, guys…” Cas sees her. Apparently the others don’t.  
“Hi Angel,” the woman begins, “You and your boys need to leave. Right now.”  
“Um…” Cas looks to the Winchesters as they hum and haw over the boot on the car.  
“Yeah, I get it. Your little accessory,” She looks to the bolts on the boot. Suddenly the boot cracks in two, releasing the wheel.  
“Cas, did you do that?”  
“Uh…” Cas looks off to the woman. She says, “Once you cross the town line, you’ll forget you were here. The people here will forget about you too.”  
“Why? What are you doing---” But the woman interrupts him, “I need certain events to unfold, and I am insuring that future. Here. Now. You need to leave.”  
“But---” Cas starts, but she’s gone.  
The brothers scramble into the car, paying the one sided conversation Cas is having no mind.  
“Come on, let’s blow this taco stand.”  
Sam makes his eyebrows hit the middle of this forehead. “Dean. Really?”  
“Just, whatever Sam. Let’s get out of here.”

…

Emma and David are sitting down to lunch. Paper plates and greasy triangles of pizza.  
Emma folds her slice in half and bites the edge, “Mmm, fit for royalty.”  
David just smiles at his daughter. He isn’t one to burn his mouth, so he sips his soda through the straw and looks to her.  
Emma has half a mouthful of pizza when she says, “Well, go on. Tell me all about angels will you?”  
“There’s nothing really to tell. I was a shepherd, and I hit my head. When I came to, I saw some big wings.”  
Emma glares at her father, “You made me wait to sit down to lunch for that story?”  
“It’s embarrassing, I fell off the edge of a short rocky land bridge. It could take the weight of my flock but when I came up behind I broke the center. I jumped to the side, but I lost my balance.”  
“So, you hit your head. And now you see wings on random people? Sounds like you brained your damage, Dad.”  
Emma drops her grease soaked crust down on the now see through paper plate. Oil making the material completely transparent. Her phone pings.  
Emma sees the photo in the message.  
“Dad, you ever seen this before?”

…

Henry takes a photo of the page and sends it to his moms.  
Regina calls him right away.  
“Henry? Where did you get this?”  
“A lady came in the diner with it.”  
“What lady?”  
“Pink hair, white dress… now that I think about it. I can’t remember her face.”

…

The woman in white stands at the Mills family crypt. 

She enters the crypt, a hand on the stone sarcophagus that holds her half sister.  
She lays a single purple rose on the lid.  
“A long time ago, you made me promise to take care of your daughters.” She says to no one, “I honestly thought you were delirious with fever, I thought you were just talking about Regina.” 

She sighs, “But don’t worry, the girls are right on track.”

…

Cas sits in the back seat. The boys in the front are oblivious to the conversation Cas just had with that random woman.

Cas had been thinking about her words since they left the curb in front of Granny’s. He’d been thinking if he should even say anything. He knows all about ensuring certain events, for the sake of the future of this world. But this seems like it’s important. Not just for the people in this town, but for other reasons. 

“Merlin was at the diner.” Cas states.  
“Who?”  
“Merlin. The wizard.” Cas thinks this is clarification enough. Dean looks to the rear view mirror to glare at Cas.  
“What are you talking about?”  
“Merlin. The wizard! He took the boot off. But he wasn’t… himself.”  
Dean and Sam just look at eachother for a moment. Sam says, “You know Merlin?”  
“I watched earth for eons, I remember him.” Cas says matter of factly.  
“So, Merlin. Why is he here? Why did he help us?”  
Cas doesn’t realize, at that moment they pass the town line. 

Dean shakes his head as if he’s just been awakened. “Sam, what were we talking about?”  
“Um, yeah. I don’t know. I kinda had a brain fart just now.”  
“Same,” Dean looks to Cas, “where’s we just come from?”  
Cas looks thoughtfully at Dean, “Bangor.”

…

When the Impala left town, so did any memory about them. Except Henry. He remembers, and he’s currently sitting in the sheriff station trying to convince his moms of what just happened.

“If those stooges weren’t here what are these files here?”  
Emma looks down at her desk, “I think I was looking at them, I guess Graham had these files here in the office?”  
“You guess? Come on Emma, you know something isn’t right here.”  
Emma and Regina exchange looks.  
“Where’d I get the pen from?”  
Henry shows them the new pen, the only pen that can make the magic happen on these pages.  
“It’s just a pen, Henry.” Regina’s voice is low and stern.  
“Well, where’d the family tree come from. Who is ‘Rex’?”  
Henry opens the book to show them, someone named ‘Rex’ is illustrated in the family tree, connected to Cora as a half sibling.  
“That’s just ridiculous. My mother was an only child.” Regina scoffs.  
“But what if she wasn’t?” Henry points to the name again. “‘Rex’ looks like a placeholder. It’s like, a nickname right? I mean, who names their kid ‘Rex’? It’s, like… a dog’s name or something.”  
“Henry, I think someone was just testing the paper or something. This looks like one of the books from the Wizard’s Apprentice house. It can’t be accurate.” Emma says to her boy.  
“I know what I saw. Come on, you of all people should know I’m telling the truth.”

Emma looks at Henry, a smidge of doubt gets erased as she gazes at the intention in his face.  
“It’s… been a weird day. Can we just decide on dinner before we catapult into more philosophical arguments about the previous author or mystery files Graham kept please?”  
“Agreed. Henry, Granny’s or do you want me to make something at home?”  
Henry just stares at the both of them.

Did everyone forget?  
…

The pink haired lady slides into her seat. She turns some knobs on the tape player and the Clash’s Combat Rock blares. She goes over her mental checklist. Gave the young writer a new pen, check. Ensures Zelena’s future, check. Paid a visit to little sis, check. 

“And my work here is done.” She says to no one. She pulls away from the cemetery and follows the trees out of town.


End file.
